Goliath
Goliath is the leader of the Manhattan Clan. He is a strong and intelligent warrior, with a firm sense of morality coupled with a short temper. Goliath had been named after the Biblical giant Goliath by his human protectors, making him the only gargoyle to have a name before their 1000-year-long stone sleep (since Gargoyles themselves as a race never saw the point of having names). Character development The Gargoyles concept began as a comedy series in the style of The Gummi Bears, although set in the modern day. When this proposal was rejected, a Disney producer Tad Stones suggested that the series be altered to include a tragic lead gargoyle, and the concept became an action-oriented series. This lead character developed into Goliath, and the rest of the series was reworked around this character. The central character of the whole series, Goliath is the leader of the Gargoyle clan, a strong, intelligent character, with a firm sense of morality coupled with a short temper. Goliath had been named after the Biblical giant Goliath by his human protectors some time before the beginning of the series, making him the only gargoyle character to have a name before their 1000-year-long stone sleep (since Gargoyles themselves as a race never saw the point of having names). Overview His relationship with other members of his clan, other Gargoyles such as his former life partner Demona and his evil clone Thailog as well as humans such as his current love, Elisa Maza and enemy, David Xanatos drove many stories in the series. Goliath appeared in more episodes of the series than any other character (except for the episodes The Silver Falcon, Kingdom and Pendragon), and according to Greg Weisman was the "prism through which the universe was recreated". This is clearest during the first season, in which several episodes revolved only around Goliath and one other member of the clan (The Thrill of the Hunt featured Goliath with Lexington, Temptation featured him with Brooklyn, Deadly Force with Broadway, and Long Way to Morning with Hudson). Characteristics Physically, Goliath is an impressive figure, a tall and powerfully-built gargoyle with lavender skin and dark hair. He is one of the mightiest warriors alive, and even his most formidable opponents cannot easily defeat him. He is also a bold and fierce gargoyle, and his wrath is something that can be terrible to behold. While a level-headed figure in general, and a good leader, he can be very stubborn at times (such as in his refusal to abandon Castle Wyvern), or sometimes even become bitterly vengeful (as in his feud with the Hunters). But he is no mere savage, and his emotions can be held in check by his strong sense of justice and morality. He takes his role as a protector seriously, and will willingly put his life in danger to keep New York or his clan from harm. In another way, Goliath has shown himself to be something more than a fierce gargoyle warrior. He is literate, having been taught how to read by Demona back in the 10th century, and has a particular fondness for the classics, such as Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky. Mingled in with his gargoyle instincts is a thoughtful, philosophical nature; he often ponders about the world and how it has changed since the time that he grew up in. He also eagerly learns all that he can about it from Elisa. His wisdom and sense of hope have helped him endure the fear and prejudice displayed by humans towards gargoyles, not yielding to it as Demona has done, as he continues to understand that humans treat gargoyles thus because they are afraid of them, and hopes that they will change for the better in the future, that someday, their races will be at peace. History Goliath was born in 918. In 994, Goliath was the head of his clan at Castle Wyvern. Like the rest of the clan he faced prejudice from the human residents of the castle, and members of Wyvern's court often compared him to his biblical namesake Goliath, especially the head of the castle herself, Princess Katharine. Her father, Prince Malcolm had named him years before. http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/faq.php?s=faq2 In this time, he had mated with a female gargoyle that he called his "angel of the night" (later known as Demona). During the Viking attack he was led away from the castle with his mentor (later called Hudson), on bad information by Demona and the Castle Captain of the Guard. This information was part of a greater plot conceived by Demona and the Captain of the Guard to evict the humans and leave the castle to him and the Gargoyles. When he returned, he believed that his love had been killed with the rest of his clan, and desired vengeance. He led the five surviving clan members in a raid on the Vikings, and personally chased the Viking leader Hakon when he fled with Princess Katharine as hostage. He rescued Katharine, but Hakon himself was tackled by Wyvern's Captain of the Guard and fell to their deaths (though they later returned as ghosts). Things were only compounded when he returned to the main group of Wyvern's refugees to discover that the five remaining members of his clan had already been turned to stone by a grief stricken Magus, who believed that they had been responsible for killing Princess Katharine. Upon realizing his mistake, he followed through with Goliath's request that he join them in stone sleep, and, along with Princess Katherine, vowed to protect the rookery eggs. Goliath and his clan was to remain in stone forever until, as the spell stipulated, "the castle rose above the clouds". In 1994, Goliath and his clan were reawakened by billionaire David Xanatos who moved Castle Wyvern and the clan to the top of his Manhattan skyscraper, effectively breaking the spell. Initially distrustful of Xanatos's intentions, after an attack on the castle by enemies of Xanatos, he agreed to work for Xanatos for a time. It was through the intervention of an NYPD detective, Elisa Maza, that he came to see Xanatos for the ruthless individual who had manipulated him, and finally agreed to lead the clan away from their ancestral home. He also encountered his former love, his "angel of the night". Now called Demona, she had also survived through to modern times, and had been partially responsible for the Viking attack that wiped out the clan. Cruel and twisted, and spiteful of humans, Goliath nevertheless held out hope that she could be redeemed for a long while. Eventually, he came to realize that this could not happen, and his affections turned instead to the human, Elisa Maza, though for longer still neither of them would acknowledge the fact. Later, Goliath discovered that the rookery eggs from Castle Wyvern had escaped to the mythical island of Avalon and was cared for by Princess Katherine and the Magus who had vowed to protect the eggs as atonement for freezing the clan in stone. On Avalon they formed a new clan, and among them was his own daughter, Angela. He was reluctant to accept parenting responsibilities, partly because of the Gargoyle tradition that the entire clan acts as a parent rather than one particular Gargoyle acting as a parent to his/her biological offspring and partly because he knew that Angela's mother was Demona, but was eventually convinced to treat her as a daughter. She became a part of the Manhattan Clan when they finally returned from Avalon. He also has an evil clone, Thailog, whom he has grudgingly accepted as a "son". Future Eventually, Goliath and Elisa would hold some sort of Commitment Ceremony (probably before 1999), and further down the road, even raise a child together, presumably by adoption. Greg Weisman confirmed at the 2004 Gathering that it is from this adopted child that Nicholas Natsilane Maza will be descended. At some point between 2004 and 2188, Goliath would sacrifice his life for some unknown purpose. However, it is known that shortly after his death, and in no small part due to his great sacrifice, the United Nations would adopt the Gargoyle Minority Protection Act which granted gargoyles full "sentient rights", established the Gargoyle Nation and made hunting gargoyles a crime. Age Goliath hatched in 918, two generations ahead of the Trio. This means he was seventy-six at the time of the Wyvern Massacre, which is a Gargoyles biological equivalent to thirty-eight. After the curse is broken in 1994, Goliath, and the rest of the Manhattan Clan, all gain a further thousand years (for the purpose of simplicity these will not be counted as part of his age). The most resent Issues of the comic take place three years later in 1997, making the Goliath seventy-nine, or the gargoyles biological equivalent to about thirty-nine. Relationships Elisa Maza Elisa and Goliath's relationship did not start on the best terms. Elisa was unsure of whether or not to trust a mythological creature, and Goliath was still feeling betrayed by humanity. The first person who seems to notice the growing relationship between the two is Hudson after he chooses his name in "Awakening Part 3", though the two do not begin to openly trust each other until Elisa protects Goliath from being captured while he sleeps in "Awakening Part 4". The romantic aspect of their relationship is completely ignored by the two until Demona (Goliath's ex-mate) attempts to kill them for not helping her to annihilate humanity. After that, however, the two refused to acknowledge their feelings until Elisa was turned into a gargoyle by Puck's spell. Though Goliath and Elisa do have a series of moments sprinkled throughout the series, it isn't until "Hunter's Moon Part 3" that either one speaks of their feelings for one another. The relationship between Demona and Goliath, though kind in the beginning, quickly soured after Demona declared that she could not forgive humanity's transgression against their kind, though it is shown that, in truth, many of the pains she has suffered from others was due to her own cruelty and/or ignorance. She constantly finds herself jealous of his and Elisa's relationship, even going so far as to try to wish her out of existence in "The Mirror", though it backfires when, instead of killing her, Puck changes her into a gargoyle. Other characters As his mentor, Hudson probably knows more about Goliath than any other character and the two are constantly leaning on each other emotionally. While Hudson has some issues with admitting that he is growing old, he always finds comfort in his old pupil; the episode in which the two look into their relationship is "Long way to Morning", in which they both reminisce on the mission that led to Goliath taking over Hudson's command. Goliath, after being attacked in the episode "Upgrade", placed Brooklyn as his second in command following a mission where Brooklyn coordinated a plan to rescue Goliath and Hudson after they were captured by the upgraded Pack, creating a relationship between the two much like the one between Goliath and Hudson. Although Brooklyn, as the most temperamental of the younger trio, found it hardest to forgive humanity, this issue was tackled in "Temptation" when Demona used his remaining frustration to trick him into brainwashing Goliath, Goliath assuring Brooklyn after he was returned to normal that Demona's views was merely a half-truth that she had accepted as a whole one. As with the others in the trio, Broadway trusts Goliath completely, although Broadway generally seems to turn to Elisa for advice more than Goliath, particularly after the episode "Deadly Force" in which he shoots her in an accident. Lexington, as the most intelligent or the trio, has the same relationship as the others. While he believes he can usually take care of himself and can make proper decisions, he is proven wrong in "The Thrill of the Hunt", where Goliath explains to him that, though they do need to be careful with who they trust, they cannot hide from the world. Although Xanatos is the first human Goliath meets after awakening, the two quickly find themselves at odds with each other, Goliath furious at Xanatos's manipulation of him and the clan, and Xanatos at Goliath's refusal to help him. After Goliath and the rest of the clan help protect his son, Alexander, from his mother-in-law, Titania, in "The Gathering Part 2", they come to a slight understanding. Notes * Appeared in all but three episodes of the series: ** The Silver Falcon, Kingdom and Pendragon. * Goliath was the leader of the Wyvern Clan for just ten years before the Massacre. * Goliath was not part of the original comedy development of Gargoyles. He first appeared as the title character of "The Gargoyle", the first attempt at turning the show into an action-drama. In this proposed show, "the gargoyle" was the immortal magical creation of an evil wizard who becomes a hero in the modern world. * Some of the names considered for Goliath included "Gar", "Griffin", "Lear", "Calaban", "Othello", "Atlas", "Stone", "Prometheus", and "Titan". Appearances Footnotes Category:Clan leaders Category:Male gargoyles Category:Gargoyles